Green Brother
by Narora Senoku
Summary: Vert is the only CPU without a younger sibling... so let's change that? This is the story of Green Brother, younger sibling to Green Heart. NarutoxNepgear(?)
1. Chapter I

_**A/N: "Oh boy, here we go, another one."**_

**I'm sure you're thinking that right now. Your yelling at me for not completing or writing more chapters for any of my other stories. Well, I guess I can take this time to inform you on the states of some of them.**

**Anime Heaven: Most likely, isn't going to continue. It moved much too fast, characters were way over powered, and the plotline to me, was just overall, bad. Will it return? Maybe. Probably not though... It may come back under a new title, and a different plot, but for the force able future, no.**

**Black Velocity Breaker: Chapter 2 is planned. It wont take much to type it, I'm just lazy.**

**Kado no Senso: Plans for Chapter 4, but not 100% yet.**

**Kitsune Beats!: See Black Velocity Breaker...**

**Radiata Kitsune: Chapter 2 Somewhat planned, half of it is typed up already. The other half... I'm still trying to get.**

**Scars: This was surprisingly popular, even though it was just a spur of the moment thing. Chapter 2 will finish Act 1 (if not, Chapter 3 will), but it hasn't been started yet, and I'm still planning.**

**Speed Demon: Still rewriting. Plans for the plot are somewhat made. Still studying up on their world.**

**Fourth Apprentice: Chapter 2 is... about 1/3 of the way done? I don't think Naruto will be leaving Inaba for a bit. (As a little teaser for the next world, as somewhat of an apology... "Neptunia")**

**Fox and the Rabbit: Starting Chapter 8, drawing up a few scenes for breaking away from Cannon... Maybe Hiatus?**

**Other Flame Haze: Lost a bit of 'mojo' with it, what after the little thing with what was plagiarism, then I ended up saying it was all good. Thinking about giving it to that author anyway. He's further along with it than I am. Chapter 2, not even 20% done...**

**Sharingan Fragment: Plot planned out, Chapter's not typed. See Black Velocity Breaker...**

**The Virus – Kitsune of Data: Working on Chapter 3, hit a few 'pot holes' with the plots. Filling them in...?**

**Anyway, enough about that. I now present you with a new Story. I've gotten into this franchise not long ago, and had plans for it. Got mk2 first, then the first game, and as I'm typing this up, Victory is on its way via mail. None are beaten, but I have a solid grasp of their functions...**

**(And the Anime was Marvelous)**

**And as a side note, the Goddesses will know of Arfoire in this version of the franchise, to tie in Naruto to the story better.**

**Disclaimer:**_** I own nothing but this computer. Naruto, nor any other franchise that may show up in this work of FAN FICTION is mine, and I by no means make any money off of this story.**_

**Key:**

Actions

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

"**Technique Names/****Technique Names**"

_**.::Scene Change::.**_

(MOST RECENT REVIEW: 5/29/2014)

_Green Brother_

_Chapter I_

Tired...

That was what he felt. No if's, and's, or but's about it. He was goddamn tired. His sister really was a workhorse when she wanted to be...

Carry this, Carry that, go pick up this game...

Sometimes, he really wondered what it would be like to be Noire's brother... or hell, even Blanc's... He could deal with Rom and Ram... They got along fine... So did Uni...

...He refrained himself from thinking about being Neptune's brother... many reasons for that, there is.

Anyway, he let out a grunt as he pulled himself from his bed. Vert would be pissed at him, _again_, if he slept in, _again_...

With a heave, he stood up on his legs. They were a bit soar from all the running he'd done yesterday, but at least it was over. Onee-chan had a few game's she was waiting for to be released, and they all happened to be on the same day...

It was like the game companies were working against him... They very well could be, actually, Onee-chan _was_ a Goddess.

The **Goddesses**, otherwise known as a landmasses **CPU** _(Console Patron Unit)_ were, in a sence, 'beings' similar to that of a regular Human, but their duties and powers differed.

Duties, being that they protected and watched over a landmass unique to them. There were a total of 4 known Landmasses: Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox.

Planeptune was protected by Neptune, a girl that Naruto only knew through his sister and Nepgear, the CPU Candidate. Neptune acted like a child, in ever sense of the word. She slaked off quite a bit and pushed her duties off to her sister Nepgear and her Oracle: Histoire. Despite that, her HDD transformation, something all CPU and Candidates had that classified them as a Goddess, was a much more mature young woman (both in mind and body...).

Noire was Lastation's CPU, and had Uni as its CPU Candidate. Their Oracle was someone by the name of Jinguji Kei. Naruto didn't know much about Jinguji-san, having never met her outside of formal meetings with his sister, but he did know that she was very business oriented; never giving without getting something equal in return. Noire was a Tsundere, simple explanation but true. She acted cold (Especially towards Neptune) but she did have a good heart. Uni was much the same, but to a lesser degree (and with Nepgear instead).

Lowee is watched over by Blanc, and had two CPU Candidates, the twins Rom and Ram. Their Oracle was Nishizawa Mina. Blanc was quiet, sometimes, but her temper was easily provoked; a 'short-fuse' would be a prefect explanation. She was very quick to get angry, especially when her sisters were involved. Rom and Ram had different personalities for being twins. Ram was very temperamental, taking after her sister, and she was often at odds with Blanc. Rom was quiet and shy though, choosing to watch events unfold, but she did voice her opinion every now and then.

Leanbox's CPU Goddess was Vert. And Naruto was their CPU Candidate. Quite the achievement too, Leanbox had the _only_ male able to use CPU abilities, _and_ the only CPU Candidate. Their Oracle was Hakozaki Chika. Vert was somewhat laid back, but she often chose to play her MMOs rather than work as a Goddess. But she did much more work than Neptune, _by far_. Chika was obsessed with Vert, often waiting hand and foot on her. With Naruto, she showed a similar affection, but much more mild, choosing instead to tease him (be it with words or bordering sexual harassment... not that he minded much.)

…

You _did not_ hear him admit to that.

A **CPU** **Candidate** (He totally wasn't changing the subject) was someone related to the current CPU, that was a 'reserve', to put it one way. They acted as a 'Vice-President' in a club: When the CPU (_President_) was away, the CPU Candidate (_Vice-President_) was in charge. They weren't as powerful as their older siblings, but they were certainly more powerful than the average human. The CPU had unique names to them, and as such, the Candidates did too:

Neptune was known as _Purple Heart_; and Nepgear as _Purple Sister_.

Noire became _Black Heart_; Uni was _Black Sister._

Blanc is _White Heart_; and her twin sisters were both known as _White Sister_.

Vert is _Green Heart_; and as such, Naruto was known as _Green Brother_.

Such Names were obtained when that specific CPU/Candidate entered into their **HDD **_(Hard Drive Divinity)_ Form. A powerful Transformation unique only to those with access to **Share Energy**: a power obtained from the Humans that each CPU protected. The more that the Humans 'loved' or 'prayed' to each goddess, the more powerful they would become in respect to the other Goddesses. However, at the current moment in time, there was a treaty in effect that limited Share energy to each Landmass to a certain point. 'Sharing' the Share Energy equally between the four nations.

He let out a sigh, but let himself walk out of his bathroom with light steps, now dressed for the day. His blonde hair, which was just barely reaching his lower neck, was held back by the large, oversized headband he had. It spanned from the middle of his forehead, up to nearly the crown of his skull. His hair parted in two places for his eyes, and there was an amount gathered in between them.

His torso had a burnt orange colored tee-shirt covering it, and over that was a white, jacket type of coat with black stripes running from the shoulders down to the wrists of the sleeves. It had a high collar, but he kept it unzipped to the bottom of his chest, displaying the orange shirt. It was parted enough to see his neck, while the high collar was pushed away from his neck, opening outwards.

His legs were covered by shorts that reached just below his knees, displaying his calves and ankles. On his feet, were simple black sneakers.

Having pushed the thoughts of his sister being the Goddess out of his head, he continued on his way to the main room in which he, and by extension his sister, lived in. He'd gone down a dark road once, nearly a year ago. He wasn't about to turn on the Goddesses again. Arfoire could be persuasive when you felt down, but thankfully, he pulled out of it before any serious damage could be caused.

All that for his Scythe.

The Scythe That Can Sever Bonds.

Well, 'Bonds' might not be the best word. It was more along the lines of 'Energy' or 'Data'.

The Scythe he was born with one day, which he'd aptly named **Verloren **_(Lost; Missing)_ back when he had first started to dip into the darkness, had the ability to Edit, Cut, and Sever Energy. Share Energy; Anti-Energy: the Scythe's blade was made to cut it. It was one hell of a tool, but it was dangerous. It effected all around him, and was in no way controlled by his will. There were times when he felt that it would warp his mind or act on its own to attack something. Recently though, it had calmed down.

It was powerful too. It rejected his Human form completely, being that it refused to let him hold it. The Scythe reacted violently towards him whenever he tried to. So he only used it in his HDD Form: _Green Brother_. It seemed it was slightly Sentient. It respected power, and while Naruto thought he was powerful already in his Human form, his HDD far surpassed it.

Dangerous because one cut with the Blade would neutralize his HDD where he was cut. Cut on the forearm blocked off his 'Green Brother' form to that specific arm. And it was _huge_. It was easily taller than Naruto himself, even in his more mature HDD form. The blade was nearly three-quarters the length of the Snath. In is attached position, looking at it from it's side would make the blade stretch down half the length of the Snath.

The Snath itself was about 7½ feet in length. That made the blade slightly longer than 5½ feet in length.

In retrospect, Naruto's Human form was about 5 foot-10 inches _(177.8cm)_ tall. His HDD form was 6 foot-1 inch _(185.4cm)_ tall. The scythe was over a foot taller than he was.

...It was heavy too...

And yes, he could transform. He'd found out the ability to do it not long before the incident with Arfoire. Being new to the power, and his Scythe, he was that much more easily persuaded to join her... He wasn't sure if the other Candidates could transform, but he didn't think that they could...

He paused for a moment, caught up in a stray thought about one of them transforming, but quickly brought himself back from his fantasies with a Manly Grunt of Masculinity™.

Most CPU Candidates were unable to Transform when they were 'born' from the Share Energy of their Nation. A Mental block seemed to be placed upon them, which was only removed when their body and mind were ready for the stress of the Transformation. It only came to Naruto when he needed it, nearing the final battle with Arfoire, he had battled again one of her lackeys and was loosing, until the transformation had activated on its own and literally saved his life.

The Transformation was powerful, but all power came at a price. The Transformation took an enormous amount of Stamina to maintain. Naruto was sore for three days after his first transformation. Not just sore in one part of his body either, he couldn't get out of his bed the first day after. Extensive training had made his body desensitize itself to the negative effects, but obviously, it would still drain massive amounts of his energy.

But anyway, he pushed those thoughts aside as he greeted his sister, who happened to be up earlier than him... again. Not surprising, he got up at about 9 in the morning today. His sister, being a Goddess, had to be up a bit early for her work, and was up at around 6 or 7 in the morning.

As he sat down on the chair outside, shaded by the umbrella, he leaned his head back and let himself sigh in comfort. He wouldn't fall asleep again, his sister would pitch a fit. It was strange. She was calm and collected with others. Even those that irked her a bit, but towards her only family, she was a bit more stern.

As he rested, he caught the sound of Rom and Ram screaming at-Rom and Ram?

He turned his head to look at the small computer sitting in front of Vert. He faintly heard their voices, then Blanc's as she lost her temper again. He gave an inward sigh, before he turned his head back towards the sky again, and watched the clouds.

"Naruto-kun?"

He twitched and let out a small 'hmm' as his sister called his name. "Yeah, Onee-chan...?"

"We'll be heading over to Lowee today. We won't reach it until tomorrow however."

Naruto turned his head to her and, while nodding in understanding, questioned anyway. "Any particular reason why...? I'm not against seeing Rom and Ram, and greeting Blanc now and then..." he somewhat whispered the last part with a small, scared look in his eye, "but..."

Vert smiled at him, and just turned back to her tea. He was about to question her again, or at least get her attention, when she continued of her own accord. "We're co-operating in a joint project..."

Naruto let out a small noise to present his confusion...

"...hn?"

_**.::Lowee – Next Day::.**_

Naruto let out an evil chuckle. He really enjoyed teasing Rom and Ram. Watching them squirm as he kept just out of their reach.

Just after greeting Blanc, Rom and Ram had all but demanded to play a game with him. Being the only Male CPU Candidate out there, it _seemed_ almost a given that they would attach to him. He was probably one of the only, if not _the_ only male that they interacted with.

And he'd agreed, after seeing the pleading look Blanc had sent him.

They must have been especially annoying today... good.

Blanc needed to loosen up anyway...

And so, they'd both attempted to capture him.

…

Attempted.

He was much too fast. _Muuuch_ too fast. His fighting style revolved around speed, and with the age difference put in with it, he was easily able to go fast enough to keep out of their clutches, but slow enough to keep them trying. Because it looked like they were just _inches, centimeters_ even, away from capturing him.

It was fun actually. Now what would really suck, was if they were in their own CPU forms. He might actually be pushed to keep out of their reach then. But then again, they didn't have that transformation yet.

Rom and Ram, being twins, had unsurprisingly good teamwork. That old legend about twins being able to read each others minds and emotions appeared to be true whenever these two fought side-by-side.

However, the fun ended when he heard a door opening behind them. He turned away from the panting duo before him, and let out an amused smile as he saw who was standing before him now.

"...Yare, yare..." He began, and after making sure that Rom and Ram knew they could rest –which caused them to promptly fall tot heir knees and do so–, he turned to them and greeted them one by one.

"Neptune, Noire, Uni, and Nepgear." He offered a polite bow of his head to the two Goddesses, and greeted his fellow Candidates with a smile and nod.

His responses...

Noire simply nodded back at him, and averted her eyes to Blanc, who'd come out at some point in time to complain about the noise. His Relationship with Noire was more of an acquaintance than friend. Much like the one Vert had with her. They got along, and they could have friendly conversations and a few jokes, but they didn't meet often enough to actually be called friends. Sort of a half-way point.

Neptune offered an enthusiastic wave to him, the Twins, and Blanc. While the others found Neptune a bit obnoxious... and he would admit, she kind of was... he still got along with her. She gave him no real reason to be rude or anything else. Above all, she was still a Goddess, and leagues more powerful than he was.

Uni seemed to have some kind of cross between a friend, crush and best friend relationship. She was often a good friend, and quite easy to talk to. She did have a small infatuation with him, and it made teasing her that much more enjoyable. Even now she was a bit red in the cheeks.

Nepgear... to be honest, he wasn't sure. He was her friend, and she-his; but he didn't know to what extent. Conversations were common between them, but sometimes they ended in awkward silences. She appeared to see him like Uni did, but less on the friend side at the moment... She was red too.

As Rom and Ram raced passed him to greet the girls, he stood with his arms in his pockets, calming his heart beat. He was still tired from his work a few days before. It was more of a lingering reminder, than it was an actual exhaustion though. He felt the drain in his muscles still, but he knew he'd be fine. By the end of the day he would feel normal.

That game had worked up a small reaction from his heart. It was beating a bit fast, but he was quickly calming himself down...

As the Four Goddesses began to exchange pleasantries and info, he walked passed them, and caught the attention of the girls. With a gesture to 'fallow him' with his head, he lead them outside so the 'grown-ups' could talk.

_**.::Outside – Half-Hour Later::.**_

Naruto smiled lightly as he watched the four Candidates make a snowman. The older sisters had joined them at some point and were speaking at an outdoor table.

He let his mind wander as the girls were focused on other things. Just random stuff that he would think on now and then...

He was missing a conversation though.

"How has he been holding up?"

Noire was the one to ask. Of course, everybody could tell she was talking about Naruto.

It had only been a short year since he'd tried to turn against them and join Arfoire, and it was only 2 months ago that he'd broken free of her manipulation completely. The whole event had caused him to lose a great deal of trust from the other Goddesses, but he seemed to be trying his damnedest to get it all back.

Arfoire was a former Goddess, or so legends about her told. She was just as powerful as all four of the current CPU combined in the past, maybe even more so, but something had happened to her to cause her powers to diminish. She was a selfish person, and was also the main cause of Naruto's episodes. She'd granted him the illusion of power, in the form of a dark ability that amplified his reflexes to match their own in combat. An increase in his strength never came, and it wasn't really needed, as his scythe canceled out any kind of attack that was used on him.

He was troubled at the time it happened, though. Lonely even. He was easily brought into Arfoire's way of thinking. They hadn't even known about it until it was too late. By the time they'd learned of his corruption, he'd already dealt some serious blows to all four of them.

Back to the situation however, you could literally see the atmosphere around them sober up at the mention of the past.

Vert snuck a glance at Naruto as he was zoned out, and addressed her question. "Better. _Much_ better. That look of instability I saw in his eyes months ago is gone now. He appears to have gone back to normal. I've been pushing him these past few days to see if he would turn back to it, but he hasn't given in."

Blanc kept her gaze on the once troubled youth. "He appears to be in control... He even kept Rom and Ram busy for a small amount of time. He wouldn't have done that before..." True to her words, Naruto would have sooner locked himself up in a room somewhere until the visit had ended. Or at least, secluded himself in the room she and Vert were talking in. Hell, he may not have even gone at all.

Vert gave a small smile. A truly happy one. "He started to call me 'Onee-chan' too." There was no outward reaction from the other CPU, but it did speak for Naruto's case.

Neptune, being the energetic one, simply kept herself out of the conversation.

However, being an older sister, she was still worried. She knew about Nepgear's crush on Naruto, how his name would come up now and then in Planeptune. He was the only male with HDD. The only Male CPU candidate too. News had spread when his existence was given to the public. He rapidly became the most popular guy around.

But with his past complication, it still worried her. She couldn't read Naruto. She could easily tell what others were thinking. She acted ditzy, and in truth she probably was, but she was still knowledgeable enough to know that Nepgear was falling for someone who had once attempted to kill his own sister.

And obviously, the Candidates didn't know about Naruto's past. They only saw him as the Leanbox CPU Candidate. Their older sisters refrained from telling them, both for the Candidates sake, and Naruto's. He'd lost quite a bit when it happened, and he didn't need to loose potential friends.

"Neptune?"

Said Planeptune goddess gave a small squeak when her name was called, and rapidly fluttered her eyes at Noire, who'd called her. "Nani-nani?"

"...Your thoughts?" Noire said, a small drop of sweat forming on her head as she attempted to keep her temper in check. Dealing with Neptune was something she both loved... and hated...

Neptune sat back, and cast another glance at Naruto who by now had gotten up and was helping out with the Snowman.

She nodded. "Yup, he's changed." was all she offered. She couldn't say much more. She hadn't known Naruto before he'd turned to Arfoire, nor had she known much about him after he had. The only point she'd actually shown any interest in him, besides being the only male CPU Candidate, was _after_ he'd attempted to end all of them.

Thinking back, he might have been able to. Had she and the other CPUs not had as fast a reflex as they did, they might have died that day...

She placed her right hand against the spot where the Scythe had cut her in her HDD form. They'd actually been in a circle around him, to defend him and the weapon he held when the tables were turned. In his position, he was easily able to swing the Scythe like he had and seal off all of their Share energy.

It was a scary moment. Loosing all of her powers, all with just a small twist of his wrist. With that simple motion, he'd cut away at them all. Only Vert had gotten away with minimal damage. A measly cut on her wrist. She'd lost power in her left hand, but the rest of her body had still been in it's HDD form.

He was powerful too. Somehow, whatever power Arfoire had given him, had enabled him to match up to a Goddess in power, if only for the duration of his HDD form. He was, and still is, the most powerful CPU Candidate in existence; he probably just refused to admit it.

Neptune cut those memories off and shoved them away from the forefront of her mind. That was in the past. Naruto was stable now. No longer did he wish to kill them. He was making a conscious effort to get better.

Blanc spoke next. "Has he finished his visits to the Psychiatrist?"

After the events had settled and Naruto has profusely apologized to all of them, Vert had started to send him to appointments with a Psychiatrist. He'd not refused to go, but he didn't like it. Eventually, the Psychiatrist had stopped the appointments himself. He said that there was nothing more he could do, and the rest was up to Vert and Naruto himself.

The cause of his episode was only partially Vert's doing, but that didn't mean she was the main cause. She'd only added to it, and she was only given the advice to 'show him the love of a family'. And she'd done just that. Those first few nights after the visits, he was distant from her, but he was willing to talk. Many a time's he'd broken down and openly cried in front of her and the staff.

But, around the time that he'd first met Nepgear and the other Candidates, he'd mostly healed himself. Rom and Ram had seemed to help quite a bit. Their attachment to him was almost instantaneous. They'd taken to him like chocolate and peanut butter. He had often read books to them when they had teamed up on him with the Puppy Eyes of Doom™. It didn't happen as often now as it did then though...

Vert smiled and turned back to the table of beautiful women. "I think... He's going to be okay..." The relief in her voice said more than words ever would.

Despite her small negligence towards him, she honestly did love him. He was her only family in this big, wide world, and almost loosing him to the darkness within him had scared her. The first week or two she wasn't able to sleep due to the nightmares. The first two nights after the incident she hadn't slept at all, and just sat by his bedside and watched him shiver in his sleep. Tortured by what he'd done, and _almost_ done in his nightmares. Unable to wake him, she'd simply held his hand and cried with him.

Neptune, having had enough of the depressing talk, brought her hands behind her head, and spoke loudly, as if she wanted to push away the atmosphere with her joyful thoughts. "So, we heard that Lowee had this new Amusement Park! We came to check it out!" '_and slack off...'_ most of the other Goddesses had attached that to the end in their heads.

However, the loud voice achieved it's purpose, as it had Rom and Ram begging to go now. It didn't take much though, and soon, Blanc had asked if the others could brink Rom and Ram to the park with them. When Neptune had attempted to persuade her, Blanc left in barely contained irritation, as she was the only one that couldn't go.

Naruto watched her leave with a concerned look but, placed his hands on the Twin's heads when the had the same look. They gave him an agitated look when they noticed him messing up their hair, the intended reaction Naruto wanted. He sent them an innocent smile. He wanted to get their minds off of their sister, and it'd worked...

_**.::At the Park::.**_

As Rom and Ram took off into the park, having completely forgot their coats and tickets, Naruto hung back and watched Nepgear and Uni chase after them. He followed at a leisurely pace. Ahead of all their older sisters, but at a brisk enough pace to keep up with the four other Candidates.

Eventually, he let himself stay behind a bit and propped himself up against a wall near the Goddesses. They seemed to not mind his presence as he kept a watchful eye on Rom and Ram. He could swear he felt one of the Goddess' eyes on him for a moment, but it quickly vanished when he made a physical reaction to it by turning his head slightly.

It was understandable that they were still a bit suspicious of him. He actually expected more when he'd returned to Leanbox that fateful night. Luckily, he'd not caused too much injury, as the CPUs had gone their respective ways in their HDD forms, when they'd returned... They were weak without their Share Energy, but the effects of the Scythe lasted only so long.

Back to reality, he realized he's lost sight of all the Candidates, and stood up from the wall, gaining the Goddess' attention. His eyes flicked left and right, but didn't catch sight of them...

"They're gone..." he said, as he began to walk briskly in the last place he saw them.

After rounding a corner, he came to face with Nepgear and Uni, both of which were cringing on the ground...

"...What...?"

_**.::Back at Lowee's Basilicom::.**_

Naruto stood next to his sister as they were barred entrance into the main chamber of the Basilicom(1), where Blanc was currently sulking.

After gaining the whole story from Nepgear and Uni, they'd rushed back to Blanc to inform her of her younger sister's kidnappings. Except she already knew, and had sent out a search party before they'd even gotten there.

And now, she'd barred them entrance into the room, one of her maids blocking their path.

They being himself, Vert, Neptune, Noire, Nepgear and Uni.

After Neptune had argued with the Maid for a few minutes, Blanc herself had finally told them to leave.

Of course, they didn't. They'd just moved to the deck outside, and were sitting in the chairs around the table.

"Tch. That damn Blanc! Does she really need to act so stubborn in the face of this emergency?" Noire was the one to break the small silence that permeated the atmosphere. From there, Neptune insulted her just to get a rise out of her.

Vert looked like she had something to say, but Nepgear spotted something first.

"Onee-chan... what's that?" The innocent girl asked, pointing up to the glass windows of the second floor where Blanc currently was. As the group looked in that general direction, they spotted Blanc in what appeared to be an interview with some little girl in a pink dress...

And not a moment later, Neptune and that girl were having an argument over their ages, of all things... But, while they were occupied, Naruto took the chance to begin pushing the strange... bunny like men out of the room.

Once the little interviewer had seen her crew being 'escorted' out of the room, she was soon fallowing after, but offered one last jab at Neptune before the doors shut in her face. 

"Blanc-san!"

The panicked voice drew Naruto's attention away from the door, and towards the Lowee Goddess. It seemed like she's collapsed from all of the excitement...

After ideas were shot around about the cause, one being a loss of Shares, Vert finally revealed what she and Blanc were working on in this sudden visit. As Vert began to type away at a computer in the room, she inquired about Terra View: an old service that Lowee once provided via Satellite. She also said that, what the public once thought was a non-functioning Satellite, _still_ actually functioned. It could still do it's job. However, the pictures were taken that day at Noon, so they would have been a bit out of date...

But, with the new software that Leanbox had developed, they could analyze the data that the pictures had.

And soon enough, they'd used the programs together and found the location of the kidnapper...

Naruto let out a grunt as he gazed at the screen. "...The Park? They never left?"

Vert nodded, verifying his thoughts. "Yes, and I'm willing to bet, they're still there now."

_**.::Amusement Park – Night::.**_

As the group of five stood and looked at the supposed hiding place of the villain, they began to plan. However, Neptune, being her thoughtless self, almost charged in were it not for Vert stopping her.

"We have to make sure that Rom and Ram are okay first." With that, she began to walk ahead of the group. When Naruto attempted to follow her, she held out a hand and stopped him.

"You wait here, Naruto-kun." She gave him a smile and a small wink next. "This is something only a woman can do..." When she finished talking to him, she turned and continued on her way to the entrance.

Naruto let out a sigh, and put his hands in his pockets, now waiting for Vert to return.

_**.::Minutes Later::.**_

Naruto looked up into the sky as he heard a large explosion, and the sound of someone flying away. He almost swore that the kidnapper had flown away, but the hole from which he came from had Vert, in her HDD form, standing there looking around for something.

Not long after that, another explosion, followed by a more feminine voice calling out mumbled words as she flew in the opposite direction, Noire, also in HDD, standing in that hole.

He turned his head towards where Neptune was fighting some imaginary enemy, and, though he felt a pang of regret leaving Nepgear with her, he chose to just leave this time. His feet making no noise, and after a few steps, he utilized his extreme speed and simply disappeared, heading towards his sister's location.

As he reached that spot, he noticed that she had already reverted to her Human state.

With a small smile to each other, they began their walk back to the Basilicom of Lowee, where a good night's rest would await them...

_**.::Next Day::.**_

"Sleep Deprivation...?" Naruto put his thoughts into words, as his eyebrows twitched at the very thought.

"Yeah..." Blanc answered, a red hue in her cheeks at being caught up all night.

They were all in that main room of the Basilicom again, only this time, all the Goddesses plus Naruto were there. The four ladies seated at the table, with all but one _("*cough*Neptune*cough")_ sitting like one would see a princess or one of royalty sitting. Back straight, Hands in their laps, eyes attentively looking at the one speaking.

Naruto was leaning on one of the thick poles that were holding up the small canopy over the table, specifically, the one behind Vert. After yesterdays events, they'd gotten up, and almost immediately after eating breakfast, had been gathered here by Blanc for Q and A...

Blanc continued, "I've been pulling all-nighters a lot recently, so I wasn't able to go with any of you, and my temper was shorter than it usually is..." As she spoke, her face was angled towards the ground, as if she was regretting something.

Then she looked up at the four goddesses, and began to give them her utmost gratitude, with only Neptune attempting to dissuade Blanc's thanks.

"Onee-chan!" When Neptune finished, Rom suddenly ran up, with a picture in hand, the girl's soft voice carrying only a few feet.

"That's ni-...hm?" Blanc began to compliment the picture, which really did look good for someone Rom's age, but instead, stopped halfway as she noticed what it was written on. After a brief moment of shock, she suddenly bolted from the room.

Naruto and Vert shared a glance, before they, being the other CPU and Rom, followed after her.

They soon came upon Blanc, embarrassed, as Uni and Nepgear read from her book...

Naruto grinned as Blanc continued to yell at them and attempt to stop them.

_**.::End::.**_

**Alright, that's the end of Chapter 1. I'm not sure what happened, but I was suddenly inspired to just take this and start writing it. The idea had been in my head for about 4 or 5 months now, so... here you go?**

**Anyway, Chapter 2 and 3 are already made. Yup, ready to be checked by yours truly and posted up. I just thought I'd put this up and make a small teaser for you guys ^^**

**anyway, be sure to review, and I'll see you all next time!**

**(1) – **_This didn't fit anywhere in the story, so I'll just put it here. A Basilicom is the place of residence for the CPU of whatever land you are currently on. It is the 'Government' side of the Landmass, who hold some power granted to them by their Nation's CPU. They can range from any shape and size (or I'd assume it's not restricted to that)._


	2. Chapter II

**A/N: OK, well, I think the first chapter went over well. Reviews were mostly positive. ^^**

**To my one guest reviewer on the 17th of April: I do have plans to mess around with the other possibilities. To be honest, my certainty with Nepgear being the pairing is actually, not 100%. I intend to have him interact with the other girls now and then through some original chapters, in the "days" between each episode/scene in the Anime/Games.**

**Nepgear and Uni are currently the top two for the pairing, but personal preference pushes me towards Nepgear a bit more. I've touched upon an idea with Cave and IF, as well as one with Chika, but they'll probably be passing fancies or the random 'fanfic fanservice' theme.**

**(you didn't mention this, but:) Harem isn't quite something I try to write, in fact I try to stay away from it, but I may have to do something with it in this particular fanfic. Most likely though, it'll just be Nepgear and Uni.**

_Green Brother_

_Chapter II_

Not long after the concert was over, the group consisting of Three goddesses, four Candidates and two Humans were walking down the long hall of Leanbox's Basilicom. As they walked they complained about Vert and Naruto not showing up for said concert that they were invited to... _By Vert!_

And so, as they walked, Neptune, Rom and Ram were jiggling the handles of doors, attempting to see which ones would open.

Eventually, they had found one that gave in, and all of them entered to see a darkened room, full of game cases and posters of games. Some of the cases were even covered in dust they'd been there so long. But, something caught Nepgear's attention, and she quietly brought herself over to the only other door, and seeing that it was slightly ajar, opened it more and found half of the duo they were looking for.

Vert was sitting at a desk, a multitude of monitors glaring at her as she drank what looked like coffee and used the controller she had with one hand, talking into a bluetooth headset.

"Vert?" Neptune called as she poked the mature woman in the side of her right breast. The girl let out a soft moan and finally turned her attention to them, instead of the game.

"Ah.. sorry..." she had the decency to drop a bead of sweat from her head. "I intended to play just for an hour, but my faction happened to get attacked, and I couldn't leave after that..."

"Onee-chan... you need to stop playing games so much..."

The girls turned to find Naruto, a fresh mug of coffee in his right hand. His other hand was stuck in his pocket, and his eyes held a slight irritation in them. Offering nods to the guests in the house, he handed Vert her coffee, which she took with a happy smile and squeal.

He turned away from her as she mumbled something about caramel flavored drinks, and turned to the girls.

"Megami-tatchi..." He properly greeted them this time, inclining his head. As said girls waved off his greeting, they began to dig into Vert about the party she'd promised.

Vert switched from a somewhat bored look _(She'd lost interest in the coffee after her first sip)_ to a surprised one, but what Naruto thought was her remembering her promise and hoping to fix it... actually turned out to be a message from one of her guild's members, and she asked for more time on the game...

Blanc, ever the calm one, commented on it. "...I never knew she was like this." Noire gave a nervous smile and attempted to weakly defend Vert, but she was thinking the very same...

Neptune however...

"Ahh... how un-goddess-like of her. She's almost as bad as me!"

"Not a chance." came the chorus of IF, Noire and Blanc. To which Neptune began to complain.

"So... what do we do? We seem to have a while to wait..." IF asked all those not currently caught up in a video game.

And this was how Naruto found himself enjoying the sight of Noire in a cleaning apron. He would never admit to it, even under pain of death, but damn, she did have a nice size of breasts...

Turning his attention away from the mounds, he listened to Noire take charge and begin to assign tasks for various groups. While IF, Compa and Nepgear left for supplies, the rest of the group was sent off to clean.

And of course, they all took advantage of the only male in the group, and sent all the difficult jobs his way. They all said something about the 'usefulness of having a guy', but he called Bullshit. While they weren't all as lazy and easily sidetracked as Neptune, they were still teenage girls, and were easily sidetracked...

He was pretty sure that Noire just wanted to see him work too. He always felt _somebodies_ eyes on him as he was lifting something heavy...

_**.::That Evening::.**_

"Everybody, I'd like to finally welcome you to my part-" Vert began to say happily, her hands clasped before her chest, but was cut off before she really could finish.

"Onee-chan, you don't deserve to say that..."

"Vert... actually, you didn't do shit..."

And thus, began the party, with Naruto and Blanc laying into Vert's statement. That also meant he missed Neptune's inquiry about Nepgear's 'dizzy spell', but that may have been a good thing...

Soon after, Vert revealed her newest gadget to the group, something Naruto had already seen, and let them all battle it out against each other, while he leaned himself against a virtual tree that appeared in the landscape.

After about an hour of playing, Vert got a call from the door. Naruto cast his gaze in her direction, and after she closed the door, he noticed that the simulation had ended, and the room was back to normal.

When Noire walked over to find out the cause of the call, she was shocked...

"It seems, that monsters have appeared in the Waste Disposal Plant in the Zune district." Vert said, a very serious look on her face, as she addressed the whole group, and not just Noire.

Naruto took a step forward and gave Vert a concerned look. "..."

Vert smiled at him and waved at the group of collected girls. "You stay here, Naruto-kun." He was about to protest her decision, but stopped when he considered the idea of it. While the Basilicom was a fortress, with the Nation's CPU gone, there wouldn't be anybody to protect it. So, while Vert was out, Naruto was being tasked to keep an eye on the Nation.

He gave a sigh, and nodded. "Fine..."

After the other goddesses had told their own sisters to stay put as well, they took off...

_**.::Hours Later::.**_

Naruto grunted as he looked out the window, finally fed up with it. "Somethings wrong..." he ideally noted.

It gained the attention of the girls he was supposedly watching, but he ignored their looks. "Something doesn't feel right..."

IF, who had previously been on her phone, looked up from it and called out to the others. "I suspected as much."

She turned her attention to Compa and Nepgear, who'd just walked back in from the balcony with Rom. "That mouse we saw in the shopping district felt out of place. So I researched him and asked around the Guild. Apparently, he's on every Country's blacklist. He's one of the most Wanted People in the world... or, well most wanted mice..."

Compa seemed stunned, but IF continued. "Last he was seen, he was bording a train to the Zune district."

Naruto brought his left hand to his forehead, and sighed. "So it's some kind of trap then...? Somebody planned for those Monsters to show up, and I'm willing to bet it's our friend Mickey..." he said, referring to the mouse.

IF nodded, and turned around. "If I hurry, I might make it in time. I'm heading out-"

"Me too!"

Nepgear shouted, and steeled her resolve after she had IF's attention. "I'm coming with you... I'm worried about Onee-chan..."

Naruto let out a sigh as he turned to the window again. He knew his sister could handle herself, but he was still worried. She was powerful and smart, but there was always a counter to any plan...

However, he refrained from going with the duo as they walked out of the room. Instead, he kept an eye on the other Candidates and Compa. He was sure Compa wouldn't do anything, but Uni and the twins...

So, he positioned himself in front of the window nearest the door, and waited for any reckless actions...

_**.::Later Again::.**_

"Damn..." Naruto grunted as he crushed the handle of his Chokutou in his right hand. The Goddesses have been captured, and it didn't appear that they could escape on their own. The girls were worried, but Nepgear just looked downright depressed as she sat with her head down on the chair. IF was inquiring Histoire about something called Anti-Crystals.

Near the end of the call, Histoire asked for the girls to return to their respective cities, and for Naruto to hang tight in his own.

However...

The girls didn't like that plan. Not one bit, and it was to be expected.

Hell, Naruto didn't like it, and one way or another, he was going to help his sister. Come Hell, high water or even Histoire herself, he would help.

His scythe would make short work of those Anti-Gems, or whatever they were...

"Gomen-nasai..." Nepgear's soft voice came.

'_Here we go..._' Naruto thought to himself. Nepgear was going to try and blame herself for everything. Why was it all the nice people felt the need to do that? Shit was complicated enough as it was...

"That rock I picked up when were were shopping..."

IF interjected, probably thinking the same thing as Naruto. "Let's not start this... hindsight is 20/20..."

Nepgear, though, looked like she wouldn't have any of it, and continued anyway... "If only I'd thought more about why I felt dizzy then..." by now, her shoulders were shaking...

"Nepgear no Baka!"

Naruto shot his head in the direction of who he'd lest thought would try to find a scapegoat, but couldn't bring himself to stop her harshe words. Uni, upset and confused, took out her anger on Nepgear. "My sister is really, really strong... and because of you..."

Uni looked up, her own tears in her eyes as she took off to the door, yelling back at the group, "You should have taken her place!"

Naruto finally found his voice and turned towards the door as it began to shut. "_Uni!_" He was about to take off after her, if only to talk some sense into her but Nepgear's hand stopped him, as she grabbed onto his wrist, her shoulders shaking and her eyes watering.

She tried to say something, but it stuck in her throat as she began to openly sob, her hands coming up to her eyes to wipe away the tears. Naruto's eyes softened, and after casting one last look back at Uni's direction, he reached down to Nepgear's shoulder and took hold of it. Nepgear, however, must have been really shaken up, as she dove into his body and held onto his jacket from the front. Placing his other hand on her shoulder he let her cry, as the other girls began to think to themselves...

Soon he'd brought her away from the room for her privacy, and they were standing outside on the balcony. She'd since stopped the water works and were now just watching the Nation's nighttime activities.

It was only about fifteen minutes later that Rom and Ram joined them, bringing Uni along as well, who was still crying. The poor girl's eyes were red and her cheeks were dusted pink. Raw from rubbing her eyes most likely.

Rom made her way up to Nepgear, and smiled at her, holding out her hand. "Let's make up... hm?" the innocent girl asked. And after Nepgear had taken her hand, Uni and Ram followed. Naruto chose to stay out of it, seeing as how he'd a) done nothing, and b) it was solely between Nepgear and Uni.

… and his shirt was still wet. He didn't want Uni to cry in it too. Because, _god _knows, if she found out what Nepgear had done, she'd demand the same treatment. She and Noire were more alike than they thought...

He turned his head from the peaceful sight, and looked back at the stars this time, choosing instead to listen in on it. It was only then he noticed that the Sun was coming up. They'd spend a whole night worrying about their sisters, that they'd forgotten to sleep...

...damn, and he wasn't the least bit tired.

Basking in the sun, he didn't notice that the girls had finished their apologies and crying, and were now watching the sunrise too. Uni turned around and lent her back against the railing, and had a sad smile on her face.

"I always thought that my sister was the strongest. I felt safe when she was around, but..."

"No, me too." Nepgear added at the end, smiling as well, but hers was brighter. "I'm useless without my sister... Even now, I have no idea what to do without her..." She turned her gaze to Naruto. "but Naruto... you can use your HDD... you must feel equal to-"

"No."

Nepgear was taken aback by his simple, yet firm answer. Naruto turned his eyes back to the horizon. "My sister... she's much more powerful than me, much smarter than me. She's a Goddess because she's the best. My sister is, in every way, a better person then I can, and will ever be..." He trailed off there, and refrained from mentioning the Arfoire incident.

"But... what to do now...?" Uni asked, and it looked like she was ready to cry again, but Ram had the answer to everybody's question.

"We rescue them, duh!" the young girl called enthusiastically, her sister readily agreeing with her.

Nepgear sighed though, and brought up one hell of a fact. "But... we can't transform-"

"Then we'll fix that!" Ram yelled again, pure determination in her eyes. Naruto smiled at the girl lightly. Always the ray of sunshine, those two. Even the darkest moments couldn't put them down.

He pushed off the railing, and nodded to himself. "Uni's right." he said, as he turned to face them, his superior height dwarfing the twins, and he was nearly a head taller than the two eldest.

But Uni had said something about their fears holding them back. It was likely true. In his case, Naruto's never actually knew what his fear was. Arfoire had forcibly activated his HDD when she'd 'given' him the Dark power he now had. Since then, he was able to use it at will, once he knew how to activate it once.

From there, they headed out to Vert's simulation device...

_**.::In The Simulation::.**_

Naruto wasn't quite sure what the girl's had come up with for their fears... but he was pretty sure that this wasn't the way to solve it.

'The way' being, beating up on Compa like she was a monster in the simulation...

Rom and Ram's weapons wouldn't hurt her too much... but Nepgear had a beam sword... and... was that a fucking gun?!

He palmed his forehead as he sat under the tree's simulation. He already had his HDD form, so he sat the training out, instead choosing to go over his abilities and come up with any possible combinations.

Eventually, he saw IF enter the room, and after a bit of convincing... so did that little interviewer from about a week ago... He was about to go over and chase her off, but he noticed her walking into the simulation after he'd gotten close to the group during his walk. He saw the evil smiles on the twin's face, and he, very quickly, darted around the soon to be battle zone and stood near IF and Compa.

After exchanging greetings with them he went back to watching the fight... the very... one-sided fight...

Basically, the girls were beating on the interviewer, as she was turned into the form of some strange skeleton wearing that same pink dress and bow in her blonde hair...

And he turned a deaf ear to the sounds of the brutal game of 'ball' they were playing with the poor interviewer... he idly wondered if he'd ever take the time to learn her name...

…

Nah...

_**.::A Bit Later...::.**_

Naruto sighed as he watched the girl's kill an Ancient Dragon. He watched each of their energies, but nothing changed. They weren't any closer to HDD then they were when the training started...

They were probably going about their fears all wrong. Sure they were scared of monsters, hell, everybody was. Something told him it had to be a more personal fear, but before he could voice his opinion, IF showed them some disturbing news.

The pictures of the captured Goddesses were being put online now. As they thumbed through the pictures, he saw Vert's and his face contorted in rage.

IF was right. They had no more time. They had to go in now, or there wouldn't ever be another time to. He nodded to himself and spun on his heel. He could make it there first before the others and stall for more time. He turned back to the girls and softened his eyes.

"I'm heading out ahead of you then. I can buy us some more time until you get there..." Before he could go Nepgear placed a soft hand on his back to get his attention again, and he turned back to her, spying the other three Candidates as well.

"...Be careful, Naruto-kun..." Uni said, her voice full of concern as she held her hands to her chest. He nodded lightly, and took off in a sprint for the door to the balcony.

Before he got there, he let his transformation take hold, and felt his body grow spontaneously. His neck length hair turned from blond to a solid green color similar to his sisters, and his blue eyes turned into black coals, a white Power Symbol taking the place of his pupil and marking him as being in his HDD form.

His clothing morphed too, changing the jacket into a full length, light gray trench coat with two pockets on either side, and a line of button, that were for show only, going down the white front. It was zipped only from the middle of his chest to the bottom of his stomach, as the rest was left untouched, and it's hood was left alone, laying across his shoulders and upper back.

He had no shirt on under the coat, but his black pants now looked more akin to a more formal looking pair, but had one very long belt wrapped around each leg numerous times, as if to hold the whole of the legs together. His black sneakers changed into an armored set of shoes, but they had the appearance of pointed dress shoes one would wear to a party.

His left arm was covered by the Trench Coat's sleeve, but his right arm was covered in a shiny, metal armor. His hands, covered by armored gloves.

**(For all of your benefit, I'll be leaving a picture of his HDD clothing on my profile, because I suck at describing clothing...)**

He lacked a few things you might see on all the other CPU and Candidates though. He had no wings attached to his back, nor did his hair grow any longer than it already was. He was much taller than his Human form though.

With a simple kick, he took off from the balcony floor and was rocketing through the cool night air towards the Zune district, and his sister...

_**.::With The Captured Goddesses::.**_

Vert let out a bored sigh as she watched yet another drop of this black liquid hit the growing accumulation below them all. It wasn't a puddle, it was much to large. But it couldn't really be called anything else that came to her mind...

...see how bored she was?

But she was worried. About the puddle, about her Nation, Herself, and more importantly, Naruto. She had no idea as to if Arfoire **(Remember, in this universe, they met her early)** had sent out any kind of attack against him and the others or not.

She looked down and added onto Noire's observation of it's growing size. "I wonder what will happen to us when we're swallowed by it...?"

Blanc made a displeased click of her tongue. "I should've looked into some counter-measures... I only thought about keeping it as far away from me as possible though..."

Neptune spoke next, ever the optimist. "Aw, cheer up, gals! We're safe for now, and we haven't lost hope yet!"

Noire didn't bother to give her a look and just spoke while staring forward. "I don't usually mind your optimism, but it gets really annoying sometimes..."

"You're trying to escape from reality" Blanc added, voice calm and face only _somewhat_ irritated.

Neptune made a face, pursing her lips outwards as she spoke. "I'm just saying, its better than thinking this is our end..."

Noire seemed to have had enough and turned her head to regard Neptune with a glare. "False hope only ever helps the heros in books and movies." She was about to continue with the insults, but Vert chose to finally speak up again.

"I don't think it's false hope at all." When they all looked at her from their awkward positions, Vert was gazing up at them with a light smile. "Have you forgotten about our younger siblings...?"

This got a small grunt from Blanc, and Noire seemed taken aback. "Uni? She's never fought without me helping her."

"Rom and Ram are still too young to fight, I still have to keep them safe and away from bloodshed..."

"Nepgear seemes level-headed and calm, but she's quite spoiled. It would just be too much for her... something tells me, out of all of them, only Naruto would actually show up and attempt to help us... but..."

Vert closed her eyes, smile still on her face. "Isn't that just your ego at play...?" When the other CPUs didn't respond right away, she continued. "Sure, they're extremely lovely girls," she excluded Naruto, because even she knew that Naruto was probably on his way now. Recklessly charging in to help them. "I'd love for them to forever stay the way they are, as well..."

"But those thoughts may be what's letting them stay as 'precious little sisters who can't transform'. Don't you feel that way...?"

"They've come, chu."

This caught their attention, and they looked over at the little mouse and Arfoire. The mouse continued, as if wanting them to hear. "The CPU Candidates have come for their sisters. Ones even ahead of the pack and is closing in right now."

Arfoire just gave a wicked smile and crossed her arms under her plentiful bust. "Let them come. What can they do?" She sent a look towards the Goddesses, who she knew were listening. "They probably can't even reach this place... _Naruto-kun_ might, but the others wont." She said his name with a type of evil, sick longing. "Don't you agree?" She called out to the suspended CPU in her trap.

They didn't answer...

_**.::With the Candidates::.**_

As the girls stood on the beach, they could see the various light-shows going off just over certain hills. Stray beams of energy being fired into the air.

Naruto was already fighting. He'd promised to buy them time, but the shear number of monsters here may be too much for just one HDD user.

The fighting stopped for a moment, and Naruto landed before them, Verloren held in his right hand as he panted.

His clothing had tears in it here and there, but otherwise he was fine. Just tired.

He cast them a glance, his dark eyes somehow shining in the moonlight. He nodded at them, turned back forwards, and kicked off the ground, slicing through some kind of metal machine and shattering it. His scythe doing it's work, and severing the creature from whatever energy was powering it. It didn't work so well on many living monsters, because they weren't running off of any kind of energy, but on machines and the like, the Scythe was truly a dangerous weapon.

And with a few words of encouragement, the girls were right behind him.

As the girls cut through the smaller ones, Naruto flew up to attract the bigger, stronger ones. It worked a bit. The ones that already had their sights set on the girls were after them, but he got the attention of most of them.

Making use of his speed, he was able to doge fire from one of the machines, and bring himself next to another. With a quick swing of Verloren, the machine was turned to binary code. It's friends however, didn't let up, and continued to push the attack.

Alternating between offense and defense, Naruto was able to hold his own, but he was getting tired. He heard a scream from below him, and took the lull in his own battle to look downwards. He saw Uni chasing off a few of the weaker ones from Rom and Ram.

Nepgear however, was pinned down. He looked just in time to see her loose her weapon, having used it to take a shot for her instead of a direct hit. And now, she was hiding behind her shield, that was growing smaller and smaller...

Naruto grunted, but before he could make it to her, he was only a few yards, he was blocked off by more monsters. He zipped between all of their attacks, but found himself unable to get closer to Nepgear. In fact, they were pushing him away.

As he blocked a strike from one of them with Verloren, Naruto directed his eyes at the struggling girl. "Nepgear!" His laps in attention nearly cost him, and he was forced backwards, further away from her by the monster.

He should have been able to take these things down, but he was drained. Almost out of energy. His HDD wouldn't last much longer at this rate, and Verloren was starting to get _really_ heavy... He could feel it starting to reject him, as he dipped lower and lower in power.

He heard another scream from behind him, and saw the rest of the group struggling as well. With a grunt, he began to curse himself. There was way, _way_ too many of these fuckers. At this rate, the girls would be dead, and he would follow soon after.

"Goddamnit..." He cursed, swinging Verloren around and cutting down two machines, before dodging blasts from more.

"Goddamnit!" He yelled this time, as if projecting it onto the monsters, as he swiftly cut down the rest of those around him. But when he looked around himself, he could see them circling him now. There had to be at least 15 of them.

"_Goddamnit!_" He finally screamed out as his stance dropped slightly.

He was about to give in. It was the end. Maybe this was what they called 'karma'. What he'd done to the Goddesses was finally coming back to bite him in the ass. And what a hell of a way for it to happen.

But then it happened.

All of the monsters were destroyed directly in front of him, and the source was Nepgear herself. She'd finally found the resolve to transform. Whatever she was afraid of was no longer holding her back.

When he saw her easily killing all these monsters, he actually smiled. He was happy. Happy for her, happy that the situation was better... and happy that he wasn't going to die.

With that, he gripped Verloren tightly, stood back up, and as he felt his energy return, he _unleashed hell_ upon those still alive. A black energy erupted from the Scythe and began to pour into the air like smoke.

Taking a dual handed stance, with the Scythe positioned in front of him, he kicked off the ground once more, and cut twice in the air in front of him.

"**Shiminuki!**"

From there, that black smoke turned into a crossed cut, blasting its way through the machines, making a clear path.

He stopped himself as he neared Nepgear, panting as he held Verloren in both hands. Shiminuki was one hell of an attack when you were tired. If he was fully rested, he could use it four times a day, maybe 6 if he was feeling really good.

But he's dead tired and he just used it. It was for a good cause, and it got him near Nepgear, which was a benefit for both of them. They could watch each others backs, but hell if it wasn't hard.

"Nepgear... we have to get to our sisters... The stronger ones will follow... us..." He said between labored breaths.

Nepgear nodded, but looked down at the rest of the group. "But the girls... we can't leave them. We're the only thing... keeping them alive." She added softly at the end, but Naruto heard her anyway, and nodded.

"Yeah..." He brought himself back up to his full height from his hunched position, and and though he was better now, he was still tired. "I'm afraid though, I won't be much help." He finished, still breathing hard.

Nepgear sent him a sympathetic look but could do nothing. He'd been here fighting longer then they have, on his own too. She would honestly be much more scared if he was still able to go on at the same pace.

Nepgear pushed the thoughts aside, and positioned herself in front of him, her eyes stern but caring. "Then, you stay behind us. Rest up while we take care of everything."

Naruto gave her a surprised look, and was about to voice his protest, but she stopped him with her finger, held up before him. Even in the middle of this battle, her cheeks were dusted pink as she commanded him. "You need to rest. If we loose you, we may not be able to win this fight..."

Her hidden meaning spoke volumes to him. _'You're tired, and I don't want to lose you...'_ he grunted, with a smile and nodded. "Fine... Be careful." With that, they lowered themselves towards the group, and called for them to regroup around them.

Once they had, Naruto took up position behind them and landed on the ground. He was still in HDD, just in case they needed him, but he was resting as Nepgear had ordered. However, he didn't just sit idly by. He was constantly moving around, and while he wasn't using a lot of energy to do it, was helping to defend the girls from sneak-attacks and overwhelming odds.

He did notice, quite happily, that with Nepgear now transformed, they were cutting through the enemy numbers like a hot knife through butter...

In a short amount of minutes, they were on their way to the center of the island. Naruto and Nepgear flying in the air beside each other, while the others were taking vehicular transport on the ground.

"I realized..." Nepgear began to speak, both to him and the others on the ground. "-that I wanted to be protected by Onee-chan forever... So I was fine being weak. That's what I was thinking."

Naruto turned his gaze to her, switching from the horizon. "But then, I wished to change- when I wished to become stronger—"

"You managed to transform?" Uni fished for her from the car Compa was driving. "That... doesn't really help me at all..." she was a bit depressed at the end.

"I've never once thought that I was fine being weak."

"It's different for everybody." Naruto spoke up. Verloren currently stashed away so the weight wasn't dragging him down. "Your fears can be completely different from the next person's. There's no telling you what it is, you need to find out on your own."

IF moved her motorcycle around to gain their attention, and spoke right afterwords. "Okay. We're nearly there.

A few moments later, Nepgear and the girls were calling out to their sisters in the distance. Naruto spared them a glance, before he began to search. They sure as hell weren't just sitting there, waiting to be rescued. Someone had to be guarding them...

There!

Drawing Verloren, Naruto pointed it at the pale skinned woman in a witch's costume that stood on a small hill of gravel. The sight of her made his blood boil, and he struggled to contain his anger.

"Arfoire..." The rage seeped into his voice, and he could almost feel the girls subconsciously edging away from him in fright.

This person was the cause of all his problems. The reason he'd attacked the Goddesses nearly a year ago.

The woman gave a wicked grin. "Good job making it this far, Candidates and friends." She looked specifically at Naruto and and gave a small chuckle. "Naruto-kun... so nice to see you again-"

"Shove it, Bitch!" He screamed out before she could finish. He intended to get a rise out of her, but she just chuckled again.

"I'm doing fine, thank you..." she mocked him, and ignored his audible growl. She turned to the rest of the party and placed a hand on her hip, the other reaching for her hat, as if to keep it on in a strong breeze.

"As your handsome friend has said already, my name is Arfoire. And I'll be the one to bring joyous tidings of chaos to this world ruled by those four young ladies-" She was pointing over at the Goddesses, when she was interrupted by the mouse.

"Compa-Chuan! I've missed you so much, chu~!" his eyes had somehow become hearts, and his black fur was tinted pink.

Compa seemed somewhat in shock as she jumped slightly.

Arfoire didn't seem to like the idea of being interrupted much though, and berated him for it. The moues' comeback?

It just 'hump'ed...

Back on topic, Nepgear steered the conversation in the right direction: "Why would you do this? What are you after?"

Arfoire let out a weak laugh, and continued with the serious talk. "Allow me to educate you brats. What I seak is a new system that doesn't require CPUs—a world where anyone can become a ruler."

Naruto growled. "Lier. You just want it all for yourself." He grunted out, but he'd finally lowered Verloren. It was _really_ heavy.

Arfoire winked at him and laughed again. "If someone stronger than me shows up, they're free to knock me off my throne...That _is _how a world of equality works... Right?"

Uni took a step forward, hands pressed to her chest. "Stop trying to make your ambitions look pretty! You're just jealous of the Goddess' powers!" She said the last part with a small smirk in Arfoire's direction.

However, Arfoire must have been ready for that comeback, and lowered her hat over her eyes. "There may have been a time when I felt that way..."

"-but not any longer." She lifted her hat, up and her red eyes were glowing ominously.

Naruto's eyes grew wider, but he kept them trained on Arfoire as she began to transform. It looked like one that the Goddesses would undergo, but it was more sinister... the area bathed in crimson light.

When she finished, she was quick enough to change her weapon into a form resembling a Katana, and she came down with an unexpected move:

"**Cross Combination!**" the cuts were quick and procise, as Nepgear was hit and sent sailing backwards, Naruto twisted around Verloren for a kill strike to Arfoire's neck. He was too slow though, and the second cut came for him, and blasted him away from the group too, closer to the Goddesses' prison.

Weak as he was, he landed hard and gasped for breath. Rolling onto his side, Verloren was stuck in the ground beside him.

This was impossible now. He wasn't strong enough. Where did all that power go when he fought his sister. It sure as hell would help him now... but...

As he thought on using that power, he involuntarily shivered. They were cursed. A dark power that he should never use again. It was Arfoire's 'gift', a power she'd called 'Sharingan'.

What she'd neglected to mention, was it's corrupting powers. The longer he used it, the more it messed with his head. Made him think more like Arfoire. Evil, cutthroat, merciless.

"Gah!"

Turning his head around, he saw Arfoire now bringing down a huge battle Ax on Nepgear over and over. The sight sparked something in him and he growled angrily. His rage was clouding his judgment now. That power seemed like a damn good choice now. Fuck himself, the others came first.

As he was about to use said powers, and risk the corruption, the strong glow from the Twins caught his attention first, and his rage was momentarily forgotten. As he watched their transformation, he stood up, grabbing onto Verloren and setting his sights on Arfoire.

With a grunt, he launched himself forward, ignoring the calls of Vert behind him.

In a last moment decision, his black eyes bled red and the Sharingan's crimson glow overtook them. The moment he activated them, he could feel Arfoire's influence telling him to kill the Candidates instead, but having just activated the power, he was able to resist the temptation, and kept his goal in sight.

Using the dust that the twins had launched at her from above, Naruto snuck up behind her. His Sharingan easily able to detect her within the cloud of ice.

"_Die!_" his call seemed to have startled Arfoire, but she was still faster than his tired state, and managed to slip away from his powerful swing unharmed.

She was even fast enough to attack the twins and push them out of the air with it. He heard Nepgear call their names from behind him, and a whistling that told him she was heading this way.

Once more, the Sharingan told him to turn around and bisect her with Verloren, but he refused to listen and focused only on Arfoire instead. He saw the blasts before he heard them, his Sharingan proving to be a powerful tool once more.

However, when the dust cleared from around Arfoire's form, she was still standing...

She grinned at them. "My turn."

With that simple phrase, the wings on her back shot away from her form and began to fire at them. If he didn't use the Sharingan, he would have probably been killed. It told him where the attacks were coming from long before his normal reflexes would have calculated the impact.

Thus, even in his exhausted state, he was able to dodge them. Casting quick glances at the girls, they seemed to be doing ok. He had to remind himself again not to attempt to kill them in this fight, and to focus his rage on Arfoire instead...

Once the blasts let up, he pushed himself to follow Arfoire's movements as she ignored the twins and rushed Nepgear. Forcing his body to react to his commands, he was soon upon Arfoire, and was distracting her from the fight, but he was easily swept aside like the girls and landed hard on the ground. He let out a small yelp, and got up quickly, Glancing down at his left arm, he was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to bend that way.

He grunted, and stood up again. It could wait.

Once more, his Sharingan caught something, and this time, he saw the small parts of Arfoire's wings being shot down. Turning his eyes to Uni, he saw the once black haired girl now had wight hair.

Jumping into the air, he was able to watch Arfoire's landing whens he was shot. He turned to Uni, and he inwardly smiled. That was it then. All the Candidates were able to use HDD now. As they made comments on Uni's new form, he turned back to Arfoire's landing spot, but he couldn't see throught he dust, even with the Sharingan.

Soon enough, Arfoire appeared once more and the battle was on again. Unfortunately, they were all getting tired now.

Naruto, with the last of his energy, vanquished his Sharingan, and after feeling his head clear up, he gave one last call. One last charge. Pushing his umpost limit, he was fast enough to catch Arfoire off-guard and stall her attacks.

Now he was spent.

He dropped Verloren, and paid it no mind as it dissolved into binary code and vanished again. His body lit aflame as it reverted back to it's base, Human form. He landed hard again, thankfully, this time he landed on his good side.

That also meant now he was watching the death of his sister and the other Goddesses.

That black liquid that was filling up the prison was high enough to drown Vert and Blanc. Both of them were being taken under, and had black, slimy looking hands keeping hold of their bodies as well, as if to drag them in.

He heard four more loud falls, and knew that the girls had fallen around him. His now blue eyes were half lidded as he panted on the ground. He was conscious, fighting for it, but he was conscious. He tried to move his left, broken arm, but just grimaced in pain, to tired to make a sound.

Instead, he moved his right arm slowly. He managed to get it in front of him, and reach out towards the body of his sister, fingers outstretched as if to reach her. "O...nee...chan..." he whispered, but ultimately, could only shudder when the glowing pyramid gave a final shudder, then dimmed down to match it's surroundings.

Taking that as the worse, Naruto grunted, and heard the sobbing of the girls behind him.

He gave a small grunt, but pushed again. He knew he would probably kill himself this time. He wouldn't be of much help with a broken arm. But he pushed himself up anyway. Struggling to get into a sitting position, he cast his furious gaze upward at Arfoire.

Her...

She caused it. She was the cause of all this suffering.

As he chanted that in his head, he pushed himself up into a crawling position. He wasn't even running on fumes now. He was half conscious and still fighting.

He looked over at the girls, who were fending off Arfoire's second assault, and he bit his own lip, drawing blood and letting it drip off his chin. If they could keep fighting... so could he.

They're going through he same pain. The same loss. All of their sisters were precious to them. With another push, he was on his feet. He limped his way over to the girls. Somewhere along the way, he transformed. Maybe it was their resonating Share Energy that did it, but he felt stronger now. Not 100%, but much better than before.

Sticking out his good hand, he called Verloren to him again. He didn't ask it this time though. He commanded. He _demanded_ it to answer his call, and somehow, it did. It came to his beck and call like a dog would it's owner.

Taking up a one handed stance, he cast his gaze once more on Arfoire and placed Verloren over his shoulder. By now, the girl's powers were resonating, reflecting off of each other and growing stronger. He wasn't sure how much he could help, but he was soon doing the same thing for them. His energy poured off of him in waves and resonated with the girl's own.

He watched Arfoire's remaining wing's being shattered from the pressure that they were letting off.

"Our sisters are still fighting-" "and we..." "...ref/use..." "...to end it hear!"

They spoke one after another, Nepgear going first, Uni, the Twins, then himself. Their Resonation grew stronger after that, and began to expand in a large circle around their group of five.

As she attempted to run, the five of them followed her. And one after another, they all tore away at her body. First her wing was shattered, Uni's doing.

Next she was thrown into her own prison, courtesy of the twins.

And finally, as she laid there getting her breath back, Naruto and Nepgear came charging at her.

They stopped however, and kept back a few feet. Nepgear brought her body around in a small circle, and took aim at Arfoire, while Naruto swung his black, smoke coated Scythe before him, and placed his hand before the large cross in the air.

They held their attacks for a moment, before letting them fly.

"Be/gon!" yelling at the same time, the attacks both hit Arfoire, hitting her and breaking the Pyramid-Prison she was 'attached' to.

The resulting explosion took up a quarter of the island in a rainbow of lights.

When the noise and lights settled down, Nepgear was the only one on the ground. The twins had IF in their grasp, and Uni held onto Compa. Naruto was between them, grasping his broken left arm.

"Onee-chan..." Nepgear started, grabbing their attention. "Where are you?"

As they landed on the ground, the sun came up fully, another whole day without sleep, and Naruto dropped his gaze to the ground as Nepgear called again.

This time, she got a response though.

"Right here, Nepgear..."

Looking up in the air, the Candidates spied their sisters. Alive and well. Not even a scratch on them as they stood there and watched the sunrise.

Eventually, they all broke off and went to their respective family. The Twins crying over their own, Uni having a heart-to-heart with Noire, and Nepgear reunited with her own sister.

Naruto however, remained where he was, and Vert was soon next to him. Turning around to her, they locked eyes, before he smirked and turned his head away, refusing to let anybody, _especially_ Vert, see his tears.

Instead, his sister latched onto him instead, placing her head on his taller shoulder. Using his good arm, he brought that around her back and let his head rest on her shoulder.

"Onee-chan... I'm... very... tired..." he panted as he started to loose consciousness. Two days, no sleep, constant fighting...

Vert nodded, and placed her hand on the back of his head, pushing it down onto her shoulder as he began to nod off. "Hai..."

He smiled to himself, and held her slightly tighter, turning his face to the side and forcing his body to stay awake. "I'm glad... your okay..."

And with that Vert felt his body sag slightly as he lost consciousness, his form reverting back to his shorter, blonde haired Human one, and his breathing evening out and slowing down.

Vert, still in her HDD form, dropped herself to her knees, placing his body so his head was resting on her lap.

It wasn't long after that, that the Candidates had calmed down. With plans of rest on all of their minds, the four Goddesses, five Candidates and two Humans made their way back to their respective cities. Neptune, Nepgear and IF on their way to Planeptune. Uni and Noire flew back to Lastation. And the trio of Twins and Blanc vanished over the horizon to Lowee.

Compa offered to take both Vert and Naruto to Leanbox in her car. After arraigning herself and Naruto in the backseat, they were off.

As the ride carried on, Vert sent a sideward look at her sleeping little brother. His head was resting on her shoulder, as the rest of his body lifelessly leaned on her own.

Vert smiled, and looked forward again, only half listening to Compa's retelling of how brave the Candidates were. '_He's really changed..._'

In the past, Naruto probably wouldn't have come to save them. Now however, he was a year older, and many years wiser. The incident a year ago had taught the boy countless life-lessons that he would never forget.

She couldn't shake the feeling though...

He gave off an aura that had a hit of Arfoire's in it. Where it was once purely his own, now it seemed that fighting against the very cause of the incident had awakened that Darkness again, if only a small bit.

She would have to keep a watchful eye on him the next few days...

_**.::End::.**_

**A/N: And that's the end of that. Next chapter I'll have a bit of fun with the R-18 Island episode, and begin to build towards the final arc in the Anime. From there, I'm planning out an original Arc that deals with Verloren, and (_SPOILER_) the other pieces of it's true form.**


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